Rosalía Won Album Of The Year And 95-Year-Old Angela Álvarez Won Best New Artist At The Latin Grammys

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Rosalía Won Album Of The Year And 95-Year-Old Angela Álvarez Won Best New Artist At The Latin Grammys

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

When the Grammy nominations came out earlier this week, the most notable and baffling snub might’ve been Rosalía’s Motomami. Motomami is probably the single best-reviewed album of 2022, and Rosalía is a legitimate star who’s performed at the Grammys before, but she had to do with a measly two nominations: Best Music Film for a live TikTok performance and Best Latin Rock Or Alternative album for Motomami, which is not a Latin rock or alternative album. They’re really overlooking her! It’s fucked up! The Latin Grammys, however, do not have that problem.

Last night, the Latin Grammys went down at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Rosalía went into the night with eight nomination, and she won four of those awards, including Album Of The Year. This was her second Album Of The Year win; she also won, somewhat controversially, for El Mal Querer in 2019. In last night’s Spanish-language acceptance speech, as USA Today reports, Rosalía said, “Motomami was a record I had to fight really hard to create… but it’s brought me so much happiness. Thank you for always supporting my music even when it’s constantly changing.”

During the show, Rosalía also performed an elaborate, triumphant medley of “Hentai,” “La Fama,” and “Despechá.” Rosalía wore a black vinyl catsuit, and at one point, she went out into the audience and danced with her boyfriend, fellow superstar Rauw Alejandro. She looked and sounded like a star. The Grammys are missing out.

The night’s other big winner was Bad Bunny, who won five statuettes even though he skipped the ceremony. But the craziest story of the night is 95-year-old Cuban singer-songwriter Angela Álvarez, who tied with the 25-year-old Mexican musician Silvana Estrada to win Best New Artist.

Álvarez was recently the subject of the documentary Miss Angela, and her story is genuinely moving. As a young woman, Álvarez wanted to become a singer, but her family forbade her. Instead, she got married and had kids. During the Cuban Revolution, Álvarez sent her children to the US under Operation Pedro Pan, and she didn’t get to see them until years later. At an old age, she finally got a chance to record and perform. During her acceptance speech, Álvarez said, “To those who have yet to make their dreams come true, know that although life is hard, there’s always a way out. And with faith and love, everything can be achieved.” That’s beautiful.

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